Posts tagged “Compassionate Care Hospice”

2010 was filled with emotion coming to grips with family members in risky health situations and even survival. My wife’s mother was recovering from major back surgery, and her grandfather was holding on after being diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer that year. Unfortunately, within a few months, Leonard passed away during the Christmas holidays, so this was a trying time for her family.

The following summer, after she had some time to grieve, we decided to take what we had learned coaching chess in after-school programs and bring it into the healthcare community on a volunteer basis. Compassionate Care Hospice had recently expanded its service offering in locations around the US to include many events and activities centered around individual patient interests. Lin Tatum, our volunteer coordinator in Atlanta, thought chess would be an excellent and fun way to engage her patients. Our first new friend who will go unnamed was 91 and quite with it! She played bingo and spoke a little. The hospice chaplain thought she would enjoy chess. The other reason is that the facility was GREAT and welcomed regular appointments with their patients. Another man we met was not be capable of playing chess on his own, however his wife really enjoyed playing and has been looking after her hubby for a long time. He had been diagnosed as a Cardiac patient. She told us, “you never know, you might get him on a good day and he could play!!!!

Another woman we met was AWESOME…She was 89 (you would never know) and resided at Freedom Point of Roswell, another great facility. Proper dress attire was required (a polo shirt and khakis). They were all about us looking NEAT. This was another good facility for us to get our foot in the door. We spoke with the Activity director about setting up a time for any of the residents to play… Finally, another woman, 84, was TERRIFIC…She loved to play Wii bowling and loves puzzles, so we knew she would be up for CHESS. She resided at Atria of Johnson Ferry which was again a great place for us to get into for other residents. Her daughter came around as she does sometimes.

Volunteering our time with Compassionate Care Hospice was a wonderful experience. We encourage you to try something new if you have already thought about doing something like this and have even included a volunteer application for their office in Atlanta, GA.

Depending upon each patient’s individual needs and condition, holistic therapy can be quite beneficial. It can meet a wide range of patient needs, including emotional, spiritual, cognitive, social and physical. Holistic therapies can be just as, if not more, effective in relieving various forms of pain and discomfort than traditional methods.

Our Breakthrough

We truly feel the wonderful game of chess can and will benefit families and groups. The game of chess it seems is being unearthed in a new and balanced way to improve social interactions. Chess is being adapted to exploit metacognition (learning to learn) and situational analysis. As a result, family relationships may be strengthened and channels to personal growth developed.

Chess Made Fun is not a popular learning program for our youth, nor is it a "Hair Club for Men" of the past. We do not relegate chess to an allurement or form of entertainment. Our effort and approach to teaching chess through therapeutic means, unshackles the game and reveals chess for what it truly is — a gateway to understanding the natural world.

Visualization becomes a powerful tool to young and old minds where wonder and breakthrough energies abound. Like never before, our special relationship with this remarkable game and the way we deliver it will truly benefit families for years to come. Read On...

culture change

Chess made its resurgence in the United States when Harry Potter became the reigning chess champion — RIP Robert F.

Laura Sherman wrote a first of its kind book titled "Chess Is Child's Play". What she said about it —
"This isn't a children's book. That's why there aren't any colorful illustrations or cartoon characters. It is a book written for parents. It's written for you!" Read On...

Endgame (stylized ENDGAMƎ) is a popular Canadian television drama series from 2011 now exclusively broadcast on Hulu.

Chess is played, but more often displayed as a clever accessory. Chess enthusiasts see "Chess as Art", but realize the distinction in the public eye. Chess is a dirty game with its twists and turns. Unadapted to health and higher learning institutions, chess collects dust in dark spaces where it remains clean and unencumbered. Our sincere hope is to thwart both ideas in popular culture, business circles, even to gamers who clamor to HDTV.